GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 179

Aid Convoy Attacked

Deadly IDF Drone Strike

In a report from The Times Of Israel we read about a drone strike that killed 7 humanitarian aid workers from the US:

Facing searing criticism on Tuesday, Israel acknowledged mistakenly carrying out an airstrike that killed seven staff members of a US-based charity group who were unloading food brought by sea to the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The group World Central Kitchen said it was pausing operations after a “targeted Israeli strike” at around midnight between Monday and Tuesday killed three British and four other staffers — an Australian, a Palestinian, a Pole and a US-Canadian.

Netanyahu and the IDF were quick to respond to the news:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged a “tragic” and “unintentional” incident and vowed to “do everything” to prevent a recurrence.

The Israeli military promised to investigate the incident “at the highest levels.”

The article went on to describe that the IAF (Israel Air Force) fired three missiles back-to-back at three vehicles. A spokesperson for the IDF offered apologies:

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an English-language statement that he had spoken to WCK founder Chef Jose Anders, “and expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family.”

He added that the IDF had expressed “sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need. We have been reviewing the incident at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened,” he said.

“We will get to the bottom of this and we will share our findings transparently,” Hagari added.

An investigation is ongoing:

IDF Spokesman Hagari said in his video statement that the IDF’s General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism — an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war — would probe the “serious incident.”

“This will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again,” he said.

This is a developing story and in the midst of all the fingers being pointed at Israel, the unverified reason for the strikes was made after some IDF soldiers suspected an armed terrorist was in the aid convoy. If true, then the aid agency would need to explain how that happened. As I said, it is early and Israel will have to put up with the usual piling on from the international community who are already holding them to an impossible standard, a standard that no country can maintain in a war time environment. If a mistake was made, then Israel will admit to it unlike Hamas who always gets the benefit of the doubt. I would also advise anyone to refrain from jumping to conclusions until more is known about this. In an instant news cycle things can and will change. Was Hamas involved somehow? Again, let’s wait to see.

More Raids Of Hospitals

We note in an article from i24news.tv that the IDF is finding Hamas terrorists in another hospital:

In a recent operation in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrested dozens of terror operatives attempting to leave Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

The IDF, through its Commando Brigade, conducted searches in Nasser and al-Amal hospitals to prevent the establishment of Hamas infrastructure.

In what could happen more and more, the IDF is capturing suspects and interrogating them to see if other hospitals aren’t also havens for Hamas:

According to IDF reports, the suspects were apprehended to ensure that Hamas does not re-establish its presence in these medical facilities.

The captured individuals have been transferred to the Shin Bet security agency and Military Intelligence Directorate's Unit 504 for further interrogation.

More signs of Hamas is being found:

During the operation in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis, IDF commandos seized weapons and engaged in clashes with armed gunmen, resulting in casualties among the terrorists.

More than likely, the IDF will have to drill down in areas previously captured as Hamas terrorists avoided detection and arrest in other hospitals and ferret out those hiding in plain sight. My opinion is that Israel will need to restaff these facilities with people they can trust until all current workers can be fully vetted. As former President of the United States Ronald Reagan famously said, trust but verify.

Rafah Operation Happening Soon

In a report from the Jerusalem News Syndicate the leader of the IDF told Israel leaders that Hamas battalions in Rafah will be taken care of soon:

The Israel Defense Forces will soon attack the last Hamas terror brigade in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.

Gallant said Hamas has ceased to function as a terrorist group in “most parts” of Gaza. “Their commanders are hiding in tunnels, they have lost command and control capabilities, the battalion frameworks in most parts of the Strip have ceased to function.

“The Hamas brigade in Rafah, however, is still standing, with its four battalions. We will address this soon,” said Gallant, according to a Defense Ministry readout shared with the press.

Gallant gave members an overall assessment of how the war is going:

The ministry said Gallant provided committee members with a briefing focused on “the IDF’s progress in fighting and dismantling Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the various efforts to ensure the return of the hostages held by Hamas, and the IDF’s counterterrorism operations.”

Vowing to bring home all 134 hostages held by Hamas, Gallant explained that the IDF and the political echelon regard the persistent military pressure on the terrorist group as the “main and most significant element” contributing to their eventual release.

“The advanced stage we have reached in dismantling Hamas and the information that we have gained from terrorists empower us at the negotiation table and enable us to make difficult decisions,” he said.

The Minister of Defence mentioned that Israel must work on many fronts now:

Gallant on Tuesday also stressed that Israel is “currently in a multi-front war; we see evidence of this every day, including over the last few days.

“We operate everywhere, every day, in order to prevent our enemies from gaining strength and to make it clear to anyone who threatens us, all over the Middle East, that the price for such action will be a big one,” the minister warned.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said once again that the mission in Rafah must happen and may have finally gotten the US to agree with him, but there could be strings attached to that agreement:

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech that “there is no victory without entering Rafah,” adding that the ground operation there “will take time, but it will happen.”

The United States and Israel agreed during a virtual meeting on Monday that Hamas must be defeated in Rafah, according to the White House.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of increased tensions between Israel and the Biden administration in recent weeks over Jerusalem’s plans for a full-scale incursion into the last Hamas stronghold.

Politico reported last month that Biden is considering conditioning some military aid to Israel if it moves forward with the battle.

Add to this that the majority of Israelis support the operation:

Around 64% of Israelis support expanding the military operations against Hamas to Rafah, even at the cost of a confrontation with the U.S., according to a poll published by Direct Polls earlier this week.

Regardless of even conditional support, I still believe that in the end, the war with the terrorists against Israel will have to be won with little to no support from the world community. The Bible even confirms this:

This is the fate of Israel, as pronounced by the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him:

2 “I will make Jerusalem and Judah like a cup of poison to all the nearby nations that send their armies to surround Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem will be a heavy stone burdening the world. And though all the nations of the earth unite in an attempt to move her, they will all be crushed. (Zec 12:1-3, TLB)

Continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem as more and more the nations rage against her.