GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 234

Placing Blame Where It Belongs

Deadly Rafah Strike

A targeted strike in Rafah is getting a lot of scrutiny now as we see in a report from The Times Of Israel:

The Israel Defense Forces airstrike in southern Gaza’s Rafah late Sunday, which targeted two senior Hamas officials but also reportedly killed dozens of Palestinian civilians, will be probed by the top-tier General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, the military announced on Monday afternoon.

The mechanism is an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war. The probe was ordered by the military advocate general, the IDF said.

The report gives more details on the strike:

The airstrike in the Tel Sultan area of western Rafah targeted and killed the commander of Hamas’s so-called West Bank headquarters — charged with advancing attacks against Israel in and from the West Bank — as well as another top member of the unit.

As usual Hamas gives their side of things which always inflates the stats and blames Israel for being careless:

Hamas health authorities said some 45 people were killed in the strike, which had also engulfed several tents and shelters where thousands of people were taking shelter in the area.

The IDF gave the area due warning as they usually do and took other steps as noted:

The IDF in its statement said that the strike was carried out based on “intelligence information on the presence of the terrorists in the area,” and that beforehand, it had carried out “many steps to reduce the chance of harming uninvolved [civilians], including aerial surveillance, the use of precision munitions, and additional intelligence information.”

“Based on [these steps] it was estimated that no harm was expected to uninvolved civilians,” the IDF said.

A military source said that two missiles with a “reduced in size” warhead, which were adapted for such targets, were used in the strike.

The IDF added that the strike did not take place in the designated “humanitarian zone” in the al-Mawasi region on the coast, where the military has called Palestinians to evacuate to in recent weeks.

Not A Usual War

Still quoting from the same article, we hear from the major general that the strike that is internationally being scrutinized was planned to avoid hurting innocent people and if anyone was in the area they knew the risks long in advance. Still the IDF will examine it:

Earlier on Monday, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate general, described the Rafah airstrike as “very grave” and “still under investigation.”

“The IDF regrets any harm to noncombatants during the war,” Tomer-Yerushalmi said at a conference hosted by the Israel Bar Association.

She also added why, even with the best of plans, civilians can end up in harm’s way:

Tomer-Yerushalmi described the war as “unusual” in the “unprecedented scope of the emerging legal issues,” in the “sensitivity and great complexity of the legal challenge we face,” and “the immediacy with which the legal front affects the war on the ground.”

She added what everyone should know by now:

Israel’s enemies, she said, are “cynically taking advantage of the law, while brutally using the civilian population as human shields.”

Israel is “in a war it did not choose” against “an enemy that abuses and harms even its own people.”

Why were these civilians there after told it would be attacked? Bible teacher and author Amir Tsarfati gives his opinion from a video update on YouTube:

The first incident occurred last night when Israel dropped two small precision-guided bombs to eliminate key terrorists hiding among civilians. This area had already been warned for evacuation and was not designated as a humanitarian zone by the IDF. When civilians are warned to leave and choose to stay, it is often because they want to fight rather than flee. The bombs targeted two highly wanted terrorists responsible for past and current attacks on Israelis, even operating terrorists in the West Bank from Gaza. Approximately 35 to 36 people died, and while they may not be uninvolved, they were serving as human shields for the top terrorists.

Will anyone asks the hard questions? Will anyone who now are condemning the IDF for these deaths mention all the steps the IDF took to avoid any unwanted deaths? Will they point out that these people were there knowing they could die? Tsarfati states what we all should know:

These incidents are significant: Israel dropped precise bombs on terrorists, resulting in civilian casualties, likely orchestrated by Hamas to create drama and pressure.

We must also remember that these people supported Hamas by 80% in the last election and are willing to die as martyrs to help them. In light of that can we still call them uninvolved?

Why Is Egypt Fighting Israel?

Lost in all the talk of the Rafah airstrikes is that there was another incident in the area as we see in an article found in The Jerusalem Post:

Israeli and Egyptian forces exchanged fire near Rafah on Monday, with sources in the IDF telling Israeli media that an Egyptian soldier who fired at troops operating on a tunnel near the border, who returned fire, killing one Egyptian soldier.

After the incident, IDF officials contacted Egyptian officials to stop the fire. No Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident.

The IDF said that the incident was under investigation and there was a dialogue with the Egyptians.

Both sides are investigating the fighting and nobody wants to see this escalate into anything bigger:

The Egyptian Armed Forces said they were conducting an investigation regarding the incident and that one soldier had been killed. An Egyptian source told KAN News that “no one has an interest in this blowing up into a greater issue, either on a national level or a popular one.” The source noted that similar issues like these had occurred in the past, with no significant escalation.

An informed security source told the Egyptian AlQahera News on Monday evening that investigative commissions had been formed to look into the incident and take necessary measures to prevent its recurrence.

A possible reason for the attack was offered:

The source added that initial investigations found that Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists were exchanging fire in the area, leading Egyptian forces to "take protective measures and deal with the source of the fire."

Egypt appears to be blaming the IDF because they are fighting there:

"The international community must bear its responsibilities regarding the seriousness of the eruption of the situation on the Egyptian border with Gaza and the Philadelphi Corridor, not only for security reasons but also for the paths of the flow of humanitarian aid," said the source to AlQahera. "Egypt warned of the repercussions of Israeli military operations on the Philadelphi Corridor. Egypt warns against compromising the security and safety of Egyptian security personnel deployed on the border."

Amir Tsarfati seems to think that money is behind it:

The more concerning incident took place a few hours ago near the Rafa Crossing. An Egyptian force opened fire on an Israeli armored brigade, Brigade 401, maneuvering in the area. The Israeli soldiers were shocked as they expected fire from Gaza, not from Egyptian soldiers. They had to respond before anyone got hurt, resulting in the deaths of four Egyptian soldiers. This incident was under a gag order until recently and is now being investigated. Both Hamas and Egyptian authorities have interests in inflating casualty numbers among civilians to pressure Israel to stop its operations in Rafa. The control Israel has over the Rafa Crossing has significantly reduced prices of goods in Rafa and the Gaza Strip by 300%, removing Hamas and mafia taxes.

Israel is now exposing multiple smuggling tunnels in Rafa, a multi-million dollar business benefiting Palestinian organizations, including Hamas, and several Egyptian authorities. This issue is not about Palestinians, peace, or land; it’s about money and exploiting Palestinians for business gains.

It always comes down to following the money it seems.