GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 15
A Myriad Of Activity

West Bank Counterterrorism Operations Heat Up

Adding further theaters for the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to contend with, raids have turned up 40 terrorist suspects living there bringing the total 330. Of that total, 40 are believed to be working for Hamas. Now we see threats from inside Israel and now on it’s western border. This would bring the fronts to 3, but if you count Yemen, they may have to defend 4. Here is a quote from an article on the offensive in the West Bank from The Times Of Israel (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/palestinian-territories/1697712528-israeli-security-forces-crack-down-on-hamas-terrorists-over-330-arrested) :

Israeli security forces conducted a “wide-scale counterterrorism activity” through the West Bank, arresting over 80 wanted suspects overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, 63 of whom belonged to the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Shin Bet internal security agency, and the Israel Border Police are continuing to operate in the Nur Shams refugee camp, after arresting five wanted suspects.

A joint statement by the Israeli forces said 524 wanted suspects were arrested across the West Bank and Jordan Valley area since October 7, adding that "over 330 of them are operatives of Hamas,” and more than 50 weapons were confiscated.

Detailed Plans Revealed

As we reported in our previous podcast, a raid on a Hamas facility turned up plans by Hamas the clearly show the attack was very targeted and not a product of uncontrolled emotions or random as seen in this quote, from i24news.tv (see https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/1697898418-hamas-terrorists-planned-in-notebooks-to-take-children-hostage-report) :

The kidnapping of the Israeli children was planned in advance and was not done "in the heat of the moment," the Atlantic magazine revealed Friday.

A notebook left behind by the terrorists showed the details of the information Hamas provided its operatives before the invasion into Israel on October 7 assault.

For example, the notebook contained plans of separating women and children from men, which the Atlantic analyzes as "planning child abductions" and not "in-the-moment" enthusiasm of terrorists.

The book was found in the possession of one of the captured terrorists in Israel. It contains detailed instructions on how to carry out the attack. In particular, they are asked to kill “difficult captives”, those who represent a danger, and to use the hostages as human shields. According to the Atlantic, instructions in the terrorist's manual indicate that Hamas expected a prolonged confrontation with Israeli security forces on Israeli territory, a confrontation that 'would last for many days.'

The article went to note that the area was freed in 2 or 3 days.

Aid Trucks Arrive

As expected, trucks with aid from the United Nations (UN) for Gaza arrived by way of the Egyptian Red Crescent. A report from The Times Of Israel gives us these details (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/1st-aid-trucks-enter-gaza-as-number-of-confirmed-hostages-held-in-strip-reaches-210/) :

As Israel marked two weeks since Hamas launched its devastating onslaught on southern Israel, the first 20 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza on Saturday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

The aid moved into the Strip amid continued rocket fire toward southern and central Israel, and as the number of confirmed hostages abducted from Israel and held in Gaza rose to 210.

The Rafah border crossing was closed again after the passage of the trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, which is responsible for delivering aid from various UN agencies.

The IDF refutes the notion that Gazans are in a humanitarian crisis at all as this quote from the same article states:

As the trucks went through, an Israeli security official told reporters on Saturday: “As of now, I can tell you that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. There are hardships in moving people within days to the south of the Gaza Strip, but the population is getting along.

“There is no shortage of water in Gaza, there is enough food for the coming weeks, this is in addition to the supply of medicines which, as far as we know, there is no shortage in the hospitals,” he said.

There were concerns that the trucks could contain weapons, since the IDF wasn’t allowed to inspect them, but the IDF confirmed that nothing went in without them searching and verifying what was on the trucks.

United States And UK Urge Citizens To Leave Lebanon

No one was surprised as Americans and Brits were strongly urged to leave the country as Hezbollah continues to ramp up its attacks on Israel. America raised its travel advisory warning to its highest level and people in Lebanon were told to get out while flights remained available. More countries are warning their people to the same as this quote from The Times Of Israel notes (see https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-uk-citizens-urged-to-leave-lebanon-as-tensions-rise-on-israel-border/?utm_source=article_hpsidebar&utm_medium=desktop_site&utm_campaign=liveblog_entry)

(The US State Department) authorized non-essential embassy personnel and their families to leave their embassy citing the unpredictable security situation due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Many Arab and Western countries have already encouraged their nationals to avoid travel to Lebanon or leave, with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday urging its citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately” and Kuwait also warning against traveling there.

France, Germany, Canada, and Australia have also warned against travel to Lebanon, while Spain has advised against non-essential travel.

It is apparent to all that if fighting there continues it could lead to yet another land offensive.

Protestors On Capitol Hill

On October 18th, protestors went into the Capitol and demanded that there be a cease fire in the war in Israel. They were apparently let in by the Capitol police and all visitors to see the building had to be turned away. Arrests were made and we’ll see if they are thrown into the American Gulag like those who also entered into the same venue on January 6th of 2021. The J6’ers are still there almost 3 years later in inhumane conditions and lacking in basic care and even adequate legal assistance. Some have committed suicide with many others, some who weren’t even in the Capitol have been sentenced to outlandish time in jail. Will these protestors be given the same treatment, many are asking? Time will tell, but others are also questioning why Palestinians are being sent more funds in light of the Hamas-controlled area clearly using such aid for their war efforts. Earmarked as humanitarian aid, $100 million is a lot to “help” those displaced from Gaza and the West Bank. United States Officials say that such aid will go through mechanisms that avoid it getting in the hands of Hamas or other terrorists groups, but how that can be done is suspect at best.

What’s Next?

I can tell you that I believe this conflict is coming to a head and as Iran’s leader said, the Muslim world will get impatient at some point. While hearing such rhetoric can be seen as mere talk, Hamas has proven that actions will soon follow such warnings. Iran is the wildcard in all of this and if they push terrorists surrounding Israel to increase their attacks, the IDF will have no choice but to take off the current restraints. As the prophetic word from Donna Rigney presaged, such an event will happen and Israel will respond with an iron fist. The conflict will be bloody but it will end quickly. I’m not looking forward to the casualties, however if it means Israel and the Middle East living in peace, that may be the cost of getting it. War is an ugly, but necessary way to resolve these disputes as we have seen in two world wars and one civil war in America. Pray that this will end soon and that there will be peace in the region for as long as possible.