GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 298

Israel Hits Back

Israel Hits Back

We knew that there was a 24-48 hour timeframe for a strong response to Hezbollah’s attack that killed 12 young people and injured 30-40 others. Whether what they did today is that or the start of it we don’t know, but we read about the current strike in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

The IDF struck Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, targeting a Hezbollah commander who was responsible for the strike on Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights a few days earlier that killed 12 Israeli Druze children and teenagers, the military announced.

The target was someone that had a bounty on his head:

The name of the commander targeted was Fuad Shukr. The Hezbollah official had a $5 million bounty "on his head," according to the United States Rewards for Justice.

Shukr was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's military adviser and has been active in the terrorist organization for 30 years, where he was the head of the terrorist group's operations room, three senior security sources told Reuters. Shukar also goes by the names "Hajj Mohsen" and "Muhsin Shukr."

Shukr was sanctioned by the United States in 2015.

Details on the attack were given:

Directly after the strike, a loud blast was heard, and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital as a result of the strike, a stronghold of the Lebanese terrorist group.

It’s not known whether Shukr was killed:

Two people were killed in the attack, according to Saudi news source Al-Hadath, but also reported that Shukr survived the attack. Two security sources told Reuters also of Shukr's survival. The Jerusalem Post is unable to confirm Shukr's fate.

The target has been involved with terrorism for quite some time:

Shukr played a central role in the October 23, 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps Barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 American military personnel and wounded 128 others, according to the US Rewards for Justice.

The strike by Israel was condemned by some in the international community:

An Israeli strike on Lebanon's capital, Beirut, is "a flagrant violation of international law," the Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Iran also condemned the strike, calling it "sinful and cowardly," according to their embassy in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said that his government condemned the Israeli strike that hit the southern suburbs of the capital and planned to file a complaint to the United Nations.

Even Hamas condemned Israel’s counterattack without mentioning the original attack:

The Hamas terrorist organization also condemned the strike, calling it a "dangerous escalation."

Some May Not Be Found

As talks to get another hostage deal in place we hear from the Israel Defense Force that even finding the bodies of hostages may not be possible as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

Recent complex military operations in the Gaza Strip to recover the bodies of slain hostages have brought the Israel Defense Forces to the understanding that there is a possibility that some of those abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 may never be found, The Times of Israel learned on Tuesday.

The grim assessment comes as 111 of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, now for nearly 300 days, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Some bodies were found, though:

Last week, during a raid in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF’s 98th Division along with the Shin Bet recovered the bodies of five hostages who were killed and then kidnapped during the onslaught nearly ten months ago.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said following the operation that though “we were near these bodies before, we didn’t know how to reach out [and recover them]. Now that we knew how to reach out, we did so. We brought five [slain hostages], which otherwise, it’s not certain we would have ever found them.”

The IDF revealed where the bodies were found:

The bodies had been buried inside a tunnel some 20 meters below ground in Khan Younis.

According to the military, the bodies were hidden behind a wall in the tunnel, and without exact information on the location — provided by a detained terrorist — it was unlikely they would have been found.

Another body was found 4 months ago:

Another such discovery occurred in April with the recovery of the body of hostage Elad Katzir, who had been abducted alive and later murdered by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza. His body was buried in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, at a site used by terror operatives.

The military obtained visual intelligence on the site where Katzir was held and sent forces there to search for the body, which was located and brought back to Israel for burial.

The body was found even though no terrorist information helped:

Katzir’s captors, according to IDF assessments, had all been killed by the military and it was unlikely that anyone else knew where he was being held.

Unfortunately the IDF isn’t holding out a lot of hope that those still being held can be rescued over time, but they have intel that could help once they figure out what it means:

Still, the IDF assesses that as time goes on, the likelihood of it obtaining intelligence on the hostages increases — but the chances of the hostages remaining alive decreases.

The IDF said it has a vast amount of intelligence — obtained during the ground operation in Gaza — that it is deciphering, which may bring leads on the hostages.

Netanyahu Sends Strong Warning

Apparently speaking to those who sense weakness in Israel and even Prime Minister Netanyahu himself because of the political divisions over many issues, the protests and even riots from the citizens and from a forced draft of religious men, he made these comments as we learn from an article in The Jerusalem Post:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stern warning to Israel’s adversaries during a government meeting on Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

“To our enemies, I say: Do not underestimate us,” he was quoted as saying. “On the battlefield, we are brothers who fight side by side, and we will continue to do so until victory.”

The PM talked abut the solidarity of the nation as well as the soldiers in the IDF:

Netanyahu emphasized Israel’s ongoing commitment to counter threats from terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and its broader strategic standing in the region. He cited the resilience and solidarity of Israelis, particularly within the context of recent conflicts and the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.

Netanyahu referred to the members of the defense forces as brothers, emphasizing their strong camaraderie and collective resolve to defend the nation against any threat. This unity is critical, especially in times of conflict, he said.

If any terrorists intend to use psychological warfare against them, it will not succeed:

Any attempt to mislead or underestimate Israel would not succeed, Netanyahu said, adding that Israel is vigilant, prepared, and united in its defense efforts.

The IDF also showed it can quell uprisings in places they occupied and left:

The IDF has intensified its military activities in recent weeks, including targeted raids and airstrikes in Gaza, eliminating key terrorist leaders, and destroying terrorist infrastructure. The IAF recently struck a Hamas command center embedded in the Khadija School in central Gaza, which was used to produce and store weapons for attacks against soldiers and Israeli communities.

And we’ve seen a more concerted effort to deal with the terrorists to their north:

The IDF has also targeted Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon in response to escalating threats and attacks. It has destroyed Hezbollah military buildings and infrastructure that were used to launch rockets and missiles.

Overall, it appears that Israel is ready to take a more aggressive approach to Hezbollah as it decimated Hamas. As I continue to say, there will be a point where one or both sides decide it’s time to unleash on the other and then this war will become a regional one. Diplomacy can only go so far, especially when one side has their starting point of killing all Jews and taking over all of Israel.