Israel/Palestine/Syria, 22 October 2023

Hello everybody!

Few ‘shorties’ for today…

Israel – General

Israeli radio/TV station N12 reported that all the country’s security chiefs and the General Staff IDF have received a warning about Hamas attack of 7 October on time: indeed, they should have met about two hours before this was launched – but then decided to do nothing, because the available intelligence indicated just a minor attack. Guess, that’s why none of the IDF’s guards were put on alert, too…

In an apparent exchange for two of Hamas’ hostages, Israel permitted entry of 20 trucks carrying food, medical supplies, and water via the Rafah Crossing from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.

This is now praised as ‘humanitarian assistance’: who cares if Gaza needs about 400-450 trucks every single day…

Syria

The last night, shortly after the CO IRGC-QF, Major-General Ismail Ghani arrived in Syria (and that on board of an Airbus A310 of the IRGC-owned Mahan Air), the IASF has heavily bombed airports of Damascus and Aleppo, paralysing flight operations from both facilities. Some claim that more bombs were used to hit local runways than for strikes on the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours.

Israel-Lebanon Border

Deducting from its own, and from Israeli reporting, the last three-four days ‘Hezbollah’ (read: IRGC) began targeting selected IDF positions in northern Israel with (Russian-made) 9M133 Kornet (AT-14 Spriggan) anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). Official Israel appears to be downplaying this affair, and superimposing its responses with reports about ‘elimination of three ATGM-teams’ here, another sniper there, etc. As far as is known, after dozens - if not hundreds - of Israeli air strikes and artillery barrages ‘Hezbollah’ should have confirmed a loss of some 19 militants: AFAIK, the majority of these were from the Lebanon-based PIJ-wing.

Actually, the Israelis have growing problems with tracking what’s going on north of the border, because the primary Hezbollah target appear to be observation posts and surveillance systems, communication towers, electronic- and signals intelligence systems. I.e. the ability of the Israelis to ‘see’ into Lebanon, and monitor developments there. Armour and entrenched infantry are attacked too, but by far not as often. Unsurprisingly, 14 Israeli settlements near the border have been evacuated, meanwhile.

Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, should have announced a big speech for tomorrow. Not sure he is going to say anything really ‘special’: Nasrallah is IRGC’s puppet and can’t tie his shoelaces without permission from Tehran. But, the date is important.

Why? Because 23 October is the anniversary of the ‘Beirut Barracks Bombing’ of 1983: on that day 40 years ago, two truck bombs hit the US and French bases of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, killing 307 (incl. 241 US and 58 French military personnel).  This attack was perpetrated by groups that eventually became Hezbollah – and that ‘in reaction’ to the US military intervention in the Lebanese Civil War on the side of Israel-supported Maronite Christians (for example, through the US Navy supporting the Lebanese Army during the battle for Suq al-Garb, in August of the same year)…. Just another of underplayed and – if reported at all – misinterpreted Western interventions in this part of the world….

Gaza Strip

Two days ago, right after bombing out the Nuseirat Refugee Camp (where over 100,000 used to live on as little at 0.69 square kilometres), killing dozens, and then destroying all 25 tall apartment buildings in the az-Zahra District in a single night (thus destroying homes of about 5,000, all of which were ‘terror command centres’), Israel ordered the ‘evacuation’ of al-Qods Hospital: a facility for around 400 patients, currently also housing around 12,000 displaced civilians. Seems, the same should be expected to get hit by ‘another stray Hamas/PIJ rocket’, ‘soon’… Of course, the same is valid for the Shifa Hospital, where around 30,000 IDPs are taking shelter: announcement that this is a major ‘Hamas command centre’ are circulated in the Israeli and Western social media for days already.

Furthermore, Israel is distributing leaflets over northern Gaza, announcing that all civilians that do not leave are going to be considered ‘partners in a terrorist organisation’. I would say there is no doubt that all the Palestinian Christians that are forming the large part of the local population are keen supporters of an extremist Islamist terror gang…

….and, despite all the Israeli bombardment - and its ‘incredible precision’ - Hamas and PIJ are still launching rockets at Israel. The following map is showing what areas were put under rocket-attack alert this morning:

With other words: everything is fine in the Middle East, there’s nothing to worry about, and the mass-murder goes on, with wholehearted Western support.

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PS I’m joining a growing number of those wondering if the IDF is not working on some sort of its own ‘counter-tunnel’ under the Gaza Strip, i.e. aiming to enter the zone underground? That would at least explain all the ‘delays’ of its much-announced ground offensive.