Carolyne Davis send in her regular commentary
The war situation is now fast moving and could move to another level very quickly, since Israel killed top Iranian commanders in Damascus signalling an escalation. Tehran has promised a harsh response.
Israel is for the first time, braced for an attack directly from Iran. Iran has long range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones : All capable of reaching Israel. It must be remembered that the Mullahs are cowards who prefer only to fight by proxies while they swan around their palaces, just as the leaders of Hamas are mostly sitting in Qatar in 5 star hotels and amassing fortunes, while they leave the vulnerable people they have brainwashed to fight for their ideology.
All home leave has been cancelled for soldiers and the airforce has called up its reservists. Israeli embassies around the world have been put on high alert . Boarding schools in Israel are sending the children home as a precaution.
The accidental death of 7 aid workers by friendly fire has caused worldwide condemnation. Friendly fire or collateral damage in war is a huge problem and can count for up to 20% of deaths for friendly fire and much more for so called collateral damage, in some scenarios. It is a consequence of war and even with modern technology it cannot be avoided. Israel has expressed her profound regret and an enquiry is under way.
The US and the UK have launched hundreds of strikes against the Houthis to protect their shipping interests and it is reported that 38 people have been killed in these strikes. There has been no reporting of the status of those killed and it seems that the US and the UK are allowed to fight to protect their interests without any care for who they kill but Israel is reprimanded constantly for protecting the lives of her citizens. American should really look at her own record of friendly fire and have some understanding of the extremely difficult circumstances Israel finds herself in and appreciate the immense efforts the IDF go to, in order to minimise loss of life.
Less attention this week has been given to the terror attack in the shopping mall at Gan Yavne where three Israelis were attacked and a 34 year old father and husband to a pregnant wife lost his fight for life. In another incident the Shin Bet thwarted a plot to kill the National Security Minister Ben -Gvir. 11 Arabs have been arrested. We have heard no condemnation from the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who otherwise has an awful lot to say about the conflict.
Constant fire continues on the north and on Thursday night fire recommenced from Gaza on Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am, Zikim, Karmia, Ashkelon and Ashkelon’s industrial area.
Eilat’s Ramon airport has a lucky escape as an armed drone that was launched from Iraq exploded on the Jordanian side of the border. After last week’s direct hit on a hanger in Eilat at the naval base, GPS has been scrambled in the area to try to confuse the missiles.
At this time Israel is fighting a multi front war with missiles being launched from Gaza, Syria and Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Internally, there are nearly daily terror attempts. On the Temple Mount during these holy days of Ramadan , arrests have made of those chanting support for Hamas. Extra security around the Temple Mount and the Holy Basin of Jerusalem has been set up as well for the last Friday of Ramadan .
Biden continues to make demands on Israel, and meanwhile, the 134 hostages continue to rot, and no progress has been made to free them. In all the calls for a ceasefire there is a marked absence of a demand to free the innocent hostages, that will pass the six month anniversary of their kidnapping this weekend. He has demanded a full report on the killing of the aid workers but has not demanded that the Red Cross are given access to the hostages and has made no demands on either Hamas or Hezbollah to ceasefire on Israel.
Israel is coming under increasing pressure from the US administration to provide more aid to Gaza and they have agreed to step up the aid by opening the Erez crossing. The distribution remains a problem, notwithstanding that Israel killed aid workers this week, the lorries are attacked by armed men and it is difficult for regular people to grab the aid without the interference of Hamas. An Egyptian aid driver was shot dead recently as Hamas do not want the people to receive the aid but to continue the war together with its devastating consequences, so that the world pressurises Israel to withdraw and they can once again take control .
No one outside of Gaza had heard of the Shifa hospital. until Israel was wrongly accused of bombing it right at the start of the war. Now everyone who watches the news knows about it, since the IDF took control in mid November and discovered that it was not so much a hospital but a major Hamas headquarters harbouring thousands of terrorists and a stock pile of weapons in a huge labyrinth of underground tunnels. The IDF now refer to it as the Shifa Compound, after israel took the area the world demanded that the IDF withdraw as soon as possible which they did. This allowed the terrorists to re-enter and re occupy above and below ground. This second battle caused many casualties for Israel.
The families of the hostages are understandably furious and heartbroken, that the government has not managed after six months of fighting to free more of their loved ones and have joined together with the anti government protests threatening to “burn down the country”. It is such a difficult situation as everyone in Israel wants to see the hostages freed, but no one wants Hamas to take back control and the two go hand in hand. Any ceasefire will hand back control to Hamas and the demands of Hamas to free even some of the hostages is on condition of releasing thousands of convicted murderers and the withdrawal of the IDF and a permanent ceasefire. It really is catch 22.
The protests have led Bibi’s top rival Benny Gantz to call for early elections. While there will have to be elections any distractions at this time will give Hamas an advantage and will not help to free the hostages, unless Gantz is planning a full withdrawal, bolstering Hamas’s fighting force by freeing all their convicted fighters, and we all go back to October 6th, when there was a ceasefire but as we all now bitterly know, disaster was looming.
We pray for the immediate release of the hostages as the first step towards a ceasefire and a peaceful end to Ramadan.
Shabbat Shalom
Carolyne Davis