GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 245

War In The North

Terrorist Killed Are Identified

We learn in a report from The Times Of Israel that 17 terrorists were killed and they are being identified. On the heels of that strike, another attack in another United Nations school occurred:

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that they had carried out an airstrike on a Hamas command center that had been set up in United Nations school in Gaza City’s Shati neighborhood, killing several members of the cell.

The strike comes a day after the IDF hit another UN school housing what it said was a compound used by dozens of terror operatives. The IDF on Friday also released the identities of another eight Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were among those killed in that strike, bringing the number of named terror operatives so far to 17.

Interestingly, the terrorists were not actually in the school:

According to the IDF, the Hamas members killed in the Friday strike had been operating from inside a container on the grounds of the Asmaa School, which is run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The container was being used as a command room by the operatives and a meeting point for members of the terror group’s internal security forces, the IDF said, noting that the operatives killed on Friday had been planning attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza in the “immediate timeframe.”

As the IDF continues to identify the bodies they are also seeing if any civilians were killed if any:

The IDF did not specify how many Hamas operatives were killed, or whether any civilians were killed in the strike.

Of course news affiliates sympathetic to the terrorists want you to believe their numbers:

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority news agency, cited local medics as saying that at least 15 Palestinians were killed at the Asmaa school, and at least 15 more were injured and taken to Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital.

The report named at least three civilians among the dead.

Israel took special care to not harm civilians, though:

The IDF said that before the strike it had carried out “many steps to reduce the chance of harming civilians,” and the strike itself was carried out using “precision munitions.”

They add that Hamas continues to use civilian buildings and areas to fight against the IDF, a tactic they are very good at using:

The IDF said Hamas was taking advantage of the school for terror activity, and it “systematically, intentionally and strategically places its infrastructure and operates from within civilian areas, in complete violation of international law and while putting the lives of [Palestinian civilians] at risk.”

The IDF has identified 17 terrorists so far:

On Friday, the IDF said it has identified another eight Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were killed in the strike, adding to the nine identified Thursday.

There too, the IDF said it took extensive precautions to reduce harm to civilians in the “precise strike” in Nuseirat. Information seen by The Times of Israel showed that the strike had been postponed twice as the military said it worked to fine-tune the plan to avoid harming civilians.

Iran Could Get Involved

In a bulleted article in The Jerusalem Post we see that the United States thinks Iran could promote a war in Lebanon if Israel even attempts a limited offensive there:

The Biden administration made it clear to Israel that the US does not believe that a "limited war" in Lebanon or a "small regional war" are realistic options, as it would be difficult to prevent them from expanding.

They see Iran sending terrorists from other proxies to fight:

The US warned of a scenario in which Lebanon would be flooded with terrorists from pro-Iranian militias coming from Syria, Iraq, and even Yemen.

The Biden administration advised Israel in recent weeks against the idea that a "limited war" could be waged in Lebanon and warned that such a move could push Iran to intervene - this is what two senior American officials and an Israeli official briefed on the talks told Walla.

The article tells us why this assessment is important:

  • The exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been going on since October 7, has escalated dramatically in the last two weeks, which has caused senior officials in the IDF and the cabinet to call for a significant expansion of the fighting against Hezbollah.
  • Senior American and Israeli officials said that the IDF and the Defense Ministry are increasingly concerned that the situation in Lebanon is reaching a turning point. The US and France have tried to find a diplomatic solution to reduce tensions on the border but have not yet made progress.
  • Preventing an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah that could lead to widespread destruction in Lebanon and Israel was a central goal of the Biden administration in its efforts to prevent the fighting in Gaza from expanding into a much wider regional conflict.
  • The Biden administration believes that it will be impossible to restore peace to the Israel-Lebanon border without a cease-fire in Gaza.

The report notes current activity that points to a bigger conflict:

  • The exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah along the border has been steadily escalating for the past eight months. Many of the Israeli settlements near the border are deserted.
  • More than 60,000 Israelis who were evacuated from the area after Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel on October 8 have not yet returned to their homes.
  • Both sides have increased the range of their attacks in recent weeks. Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at military targets up to 50 km from the border.
  • Earlier this week, Hezbollah attacks and extremely hot weather ignited massive forest fires across northern Israel that took more than 48 hours to extinguish.
  • The fires and growing public criticism of the government over the war of attrition in the North led to an emergency meeting of the War Cabinet on Tuesday night.

Looking At The Bigger Picture

Going back to the Post article we see how the US sees things:

  • A senior security official said that the situation has been escalating since May because Hezbollah was able to carry out successful attacks using UAVs against Israeli targets that the IDF was unable to intercept.
  • At the same time, Hezbollah began launching "Burkan" rockets with warheads of 1,000-500 kg of explosive material, which caused heavy damage to IDF bases along the border.

Here is some of the spokespersons from the US are saying:

  • State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday that the US remains "deeply concerned about the risk of escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border."
  • "We are engaged in intensive diplomatic talks and intensive diplomatic negotiations to try to prevent this conflict from escalating beyond control," he said.
  • Miller added, "Israel has been claiming to us privately for a long time - and they have said this publicly as well - that their preferred solution to this conflict is diplomatic."

Israel weighs in on what’s next:

  • At the War Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, no decisions were made, but the IDF presented several options for expanding the fighting, including a ground invasion aimed at driving Hezbollah's Radwan force away from the border, an Israeli senior official said.
  • He emphasized that since October 7, the instructions the IDF received from the political echelon were to focus on defeating Hamas in Gaza and to avoid a war in Lebanon. The Israeli official said that this policy change could have far-reaching consequences.
  • The Israeli official said that a war with Hezbollah or a limited operation in Lebanon would have "enormous consequences for Israel," and after such an operation would cost many lives and resources, it would most likely lead to an agreement similar to the one Israel and Lebanon are trying to achieve now.
  • "We need to understand this before making decisions," said the Israeli official.

All of these comments and information just makes me see the Psalm 83 war coming together just as prophesied. The bad part is that I agree that a conflict with Hezbollah would draw in terrorists from the area and the causalities for Israel would be stark. But I also agree that it could end the overall threat of terrorist attacks either from diplomacy or Israel taking back the areas where these bad actors work out of and dismantling them once and for all. Given the hatred of Jews by these people the harder path will be needed. And yes, pray about this news as you pray for the peace of Jerusalem.